Kalshi
The first federally regulated exchange in the United States dedicated specifically to trading on the outcome of real-world events. Regulated by the CFTC, Kalshi allows users to purchase 'event contracts' on everything from economic indicators to entertainment results.
⬌ How Kalshi compares to Polymarket on fees, access and settlement — a dated comparison with both fee formulas, who can actually trade in which country, and how each venue settles.
⬌ How Kalshi compares to Robinhood on pricing, access and market coverage — pricing notes, access, platforms and eligibility for both, with the date each record was last verified.
$Pricing Details
Free to sign up. Trading fee = round up(0.07 x contracts x price x (1-price)), which is $0.07-$1.75 per 100 contracts. No settlement fee on simple yes/no. Some series charge maker fees. Verified 2026-10-21 against Kalshi's fee schedule.
⬡Eligibility
Individuals aged 18 or older who pass identity and document verification at signup, which Kalshi says it runs to meet CFTC identity rules. Kalshi now takes members from many countries as well as the US; international eligibility is bounded by the restricted jurisdictions in Section VI of the Member Agreement, and Kalshi puts the legality question on the member, saying it gives no individual legal or eligibility advice. Federal DCM status does not settle the state question: sports, election and entertainment contracts are geofenced for customers in Nevada (Nevada Gaming Control Board agreement, geofencing due 12 August 2026), Washington (state court order, August 2026) and Michigan, with litigation live in several other states. Sources: Kalshi Help Center, 'Signing Up as an Individual' (article dated 10 March 2026) and 'Can I trade on Kalshi from outside the United States?' (20 March 2026); Kalshi Member Agreement, Section VI; CFTC Release 8302-20 designating KalshiEX LLC; Nevada GCB release, 24 July 2026; CoinDesk, 21 August 2026. Checked 2026-10-21.
⌘Data and API access
Documented and public. docs.kalshi.com covers a REST Trade API (external-api.kalshi.com/trade-api/v2) and a WebSocket streaming API (external-api-ws.kalshi.com/trade-api/ws/v2) for event contracts, plus FIX sessions and a separate API for perpetual futures. Requests are signed with an RSA key created in account settings and sent as KALSHI-ACCESS-KEY, KALSHI-ACCESS-TIMESTAMP and KALSHI-ACCESS-SIGNATURE, which covers market data, portfolio, and order placement and cancellation; a demo environment mirrors production for testing. Sources: Kalshi API documentation, 'Introduction', 'API Keys' and 'API Environments and Endpoints', checked 2026-10-21.
✦Features
- › Binary Event Contracts
- › Order Book
- › Limit Orders
- › Market Orders
- › Portfolio Dashboard
- › P&L Tracking
- › API Access
- › KYC/AML Compliant
±Good for, not good for
- › US-regulated event contracts in USD at a CFTC-designated exchange (KalshiEX)
- › Automation: documented REST, WebSocket and FIX APIs with a demo environment
- › Economics, financial data and weather markets alongside sports and elections
- › International members, where the country is not on the Member Agreement's restricted list
- – Sports, election and entertainment contracts in Nevada, Washington and Michigan, which are geofenced
- – On-chain settlement or self-custody: Kalshi is a custodial, fiat exchange
- – Traders in a jurisdiction listed as restricted in Section VI of the Member Agreement